Bertelsmann acquiring S&S would be 'profound antitrust issue' for the trade, News Corp c.e.o. claims

News Corp c.e.o. Robert Thomson has said that it would be a "serious antitrust issue" for the industry if Bertelsmann were to acquire Simon & Schuster. It comes after the New York Times reported this week that News Corp is among companies that have made a bid for the publisher. 

The newspaper, which says its source is "three people familiar with the process who declined to be named because the matter remains confidential", claimed Bertelsmann, owner of Penguin Random House, is the other leading bidder. The Financial Times suggested that French media group Vivendi may also be considering a bid.

During News Corp's stockholders' annual meeting earlier this week, Thomson said of the reported bid: "I am not going to speculate on speculation and scuttlebutt. We are pleased with the performance at HarperCollins and the building of the direct-to-consumer links, the expanding digital personality, and our nonpareil front and backlist authors. But I would make one observation about Simon & Schuster. It will clearly be a serious antitrust issue if Bertelsmann acquires Simon & Schuster.

"However cute and clever the structure, if Bertelsmann is their beneficiary, it will be a book behemoth. And this will certainly be a profound antitrust issue for the entire book industry and, no doubt, for authors around the world."

Responding to The Bookseller's request for comment on Thomson's claim, a spokesperson from Bertelsmann said: "We generally do not comment on any kind of speculation regarding market transactions. We have stated in the past that Penguin Random House wants to grow organically and through [mergers and acquisitions]. This is still the case."

In the UK, were News Corp's HarperCollins to win S&S, HarperCollins would remain as the third biggest trade publisher in the UK (according to BookScan statistics). S&S was the ninth biggest publisher in terms of BookScan sales last year (at circa £27m), with now-acquired Egmont at £14m, which added to HC's £133m would total around £175m, leaving it still some distance behind Hachette (£205m).

If Bertelsmann's Penguin Random House were to win S&S, the acquisition would further the distance between PRH and the rest of the crowd, both in the US and the UK. In the UK, based on 2019 numbers (when PRH was at £346m), that would have meant BookScan sales of £374m. In the US PRH's revenues are around $3.3bn.